This part from the ESPN nba front page was very misleading. See "Spurs lock up No. 3 spot..."
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/index
That was the point of momentary confusion, you gender-confused/shemale troll.
We can assume the following will happen
1.) Rockets will beat the Clippers
2.) Hornets will win at least one of their remaining games
3.) Suns *should* beat the Blazers (they've managed to do so easily this year)
The Spurs are screwed no matter what they do. If they beat UTAH they face PHX in the 1st round. If they lose to UTA they face UTA in the 1st round without HCA. SAS is in the worst possible position at this point.
I just thought of something if we beat Utah and Houston wins that means Utah will be the number 4 seed and Houston number 5. Houston although number 5 seed would have a better record than Utah so does that mean that Houston would have home court advantage in round 1 over Utah?
If that's the case then that is another reason that Utah would want to win the game.
Bring either one of those chumps on... let them try to beat the Spurs in a 7 game series.
That's correct.
Utah needs to win as badly as the spurs do.
. Just what I thought. Manu's gotta play then.
If the Spurs would have lost against the Kings, the playoff picture would have looked like this:
A win against the Jazz--
3. Suns
4. Jazz
5. Rockets
6. Spurs
A loss against the Jazz--
3. Jazz
4. Suns
5. Rockets
6. Spurs
Damn, if the Spurs hadn't won this game, they would have been locked into the sixth seed. Thank the basketball gods for the win.
The Suns don't own the Spurs. If Suns fans base ownage on regular season series results, then your assessments are severely flawed !
Suns seemed to own the top-seeded Spurs in 2003. Won game 1 and felt good before they fell. In 2005, Suns had HCA over the Spurs but we all know who went fishing. Then in 2007, Suns again had HCA over the Spurs but again, we all know who went fishing in an Oasis in Arizona.
Personally, I think the West will be between old rivals the Lakers and Spurs. Though i feel confident that the Lake show will go deep, I'm still wary of the Spurs. Like last year, they are a different beast in play-off mode.
For all you doubters to understand this "fear"; take Lebron James' pre-Finals comments when he was interviewed by ESPN that the Cavs feel very confident about beating the Spurs having convincingly swept the season series against SA.
Then after just four games, brooms were selling like hot cakes by the Riverwalk!!!
Here's an ESPN article that breaks down a 4 way tie (possible if Jazz beat the Spurs and everybody else wins)
http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/...gnificent.html
A Four-Way Tie Would be Magnificent
April 14, 2008 11:35 AM
On the Salt Lake Tribune's basketball blog, Ross Siler points out the very real possibility that the Jazz, Spurs, Rockets, and Suns could all end the season 55-27.
It'll take the coordinated efforts of all teams involved, and a Jazz win in San Antonio, where they tend to lose.
But it really could happen.
My first thought is: Cool! Exciting! Historical! And a perfect way to cap the West's season of parity.
My next thought was ... wow. I wonder how they break that tie? The division winners have to be in the top four. And the usual tie-breaker -- head to head record -- would seem to be a little more complicated with four teams.
Siler writes:
I'm not sure how exactly the NBA would break a four-way tie. The Jazz would have to be assured a top four seed as a division champion.
As far as individual tiebreakers go, the Spurs have a better division record than Houston, Phoenix owns the season series against San Antonio and Houston has a better conference record than Phoenix. Round and round we go.
If it comes down to conference record, the Jazz would finish 34-18, Houston 33-19, San Antonio 32-20 and Phoenix 31-21. The Jazz would play the Suns in the first round under this tiebreaker.
If it comes down to head-to-head against the other three teams, the Jazz are 7-3, Phoenix is 6-5, Houston is 5-6 and San Antonio is 4-8. The numbers are different because some teams were only scheduled to play three times this season.
The Jazz would play San Antonio in the first round under this tiebreaker. If San Antonio loses Monday and Wednesday, Utah and the Spurs would meet in the first round as well.
Of course, the Jazz also could lose Wednesday in San Antonio for the 21st consecutive time and settle for the No. 4 seed and a series with Houston.
OK, I can help here, I think. After the jump, I posted the entire tie-break rules, straight from the NBA. They are not entirely simple. You may want to bookmark this post so you can check them again as these next few days unfold.
My simplified interpretation as applies here: if all four end up tied, it does come down to winning percentage in games among the tied teams. And we're lucky, this year, that in this scenario such a tie-breaker really would settle everything without having to go deeper into the rules.
Based on Siler's research a few paragraphs above, if those four teams end up 55-27, after the tie-breaks have been applied, the Lakers and Hornets would be followed in the third through sixth spots in the West with:
* Jazz
* Suns
* Rockets
* Spurs
That would set up a killer Utah vs. San Antonio series. Now, you might wonder, who would get homecourt advantage in that series?
Again, we apply the tie-break procedures, although now we only have two teams to consider. And if this tie happens, then Utah will have finished 3-0 against the Spurs this season, and so the Jazz will get the extra game at home.
Playoff Tie-Break Procedures
Ties for playoff positions (including division winners) will be broken utilizing the criteria set forth in subparagraph a. below (in the case of ties involving two teams) and subparagraph b. below (in the case of ties involving more than two teams), and the guidelines set forth in subparagraph c. below.
Two Teams Tied
In the case of a tie in regular-season records involving only two teams, the following criteria will be utilized in the following order:
1. Better winning percentage in games against each other.
2. Better winning percentage against teams in own division (only if tied teams are in same division).
3. Better winning percentage against teams in own conference.
4. Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in own conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position).
5. Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in opposite conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position).
6. Better net result of total points scored less total points allowed against all opponents ("point differential").
More Than Two Teams Tied
In the case of a tie in regular season records involving more than two teams, the following criteria will be utilized in the following order:
1. Better winning percentage in all games among the tied teams.
2. Better winning percentage against teams in own division (only if all tied teams are in the same division).
3. Better winning percentage against teams in own conference.
4. Better winning percentage against teams eligible for playoffs in own conference (including teams that finished the regular season tied for a playoff position).
5. Better net result of total points scored less total points allowed against all opponents ("point differential").
Guidelines For Applying Tie-Break Criteria
The following guidelines shall be used when applying the above criteria to break ties for playoff positions:
(1)
(a) The first four seeds in each conference will continue to be given to the three division winners and the team with the next best regular season record, but these four teams will now be seeded in order of their regular season records. Among other things, this change will ensure that the two teams with the best records in the conference will not meet earlier than the Conference Finals.
(b) When a tie must be broken to determine a division winner, the results of the tie-break shall be used to determine only the division winner and its playoff position, not any other playoff position(s).
(2)
If a tie involves more than two teams, the tie-break criteria in subparagraph b. shall be applied in the order set forth therein until the first to occur of the following:
(a) Each of the tied teams has a different winning percentage or point differential under the applicable tiebreak criterion (a "complete" breaking of the tie). In this cir stance, the team with the best winning percentage or point differential under the criterion will be awarded the best playoff position, the team with the next-best winning percentage or point differential will be awarded the next-best playoff position, and so on, and no further application of the tie-break criteria will be required.
(b) One or more (but not all) of the tied teams has a different winning percentage or point differential under the applicable tie-break criterion (a "partial" breaking of the tie). In this cir stance: (x) any team(s) that performed better under the applicable criterion than any other team(s) will be awarded a higher playoff position than such other team(s); and (y) teams that had equivalent performance under the applicable criterion will remain tied, and such remaining tie(s) will be broken by applying, from the beginning, the criteria in subparagraph
a.(1)-(6) above (for any remaining tie involving only two teams) or subparagraph
b.(1)-(5) above (for any remaining tie involving more than two teams) and the guidelines set forth in this subparagraph
(3)
If application of the criteria in subparagraph a. or b. does not result in the breaking of a tie, the playoff positions of the tied teams will be determined by a random drawing.
I don't belive the Jazz would love the play the Spurs in round 1. Neither would the Suns. I think the Jazz will tank the game on wed. so they can take on Houston. The Suns would love to take on Houston as well. But I think Houston will end up in sixth with the Spurs getting the 3rd spot.
I don't think Utah (who win its division) could be a part of a three of four teams tie. If jazz, Spurs, Suns and Rockets are tied, a first tie breaker will happen between Spurs, Suns and Rockets. The winner of this tiebreaker (Suns) will have a head to head tie breaker with Utah to decide who will be third and who will be fourth. Utah has the Tie breaker over Phoenix and will be third.
Anyway, Rockets will play at 8:30pm, Spurs at 9:30 and phoenix at 10:00pm. (ET times). Spurs will only know the Rockets game result to decide or not to tank the game. Without knowing Suns result, the best case for Spurs is a win against Jazz whatever Rockets result is.
For Spurs the situation is quite simple, plays hard this game and try to win it. That's all.
#1 N.O. Hornets vs #8 Denver Nuggets 4-1 Hornets
#2 L.A. Lakers vs. #7 Dallas Mavericks 4-1 Lakers
#3 S.A. Spurs vs. #6 Houston Rockets 4-1 Spurs
#4 Utah Jazz vs. #5 Phoenix Suns 4-2 Jazz
And thank Tony.
I think you're right.
As a division winner Utah wouldn't be concerned by an overall tiebreaker.
In fact, they're assured to be no lower than the 4th seed. So, you could have a tie breaker to determine if they are 3 or 4. And another one, depending on the result to determine who is 3, 5 and 6 or 4, 5 and 6.
I think you're right.
As a division winner Utah wouldn't be concerned by an overall tiebreaker.
In fact, they're assured to be no lower than the 4th seed. So, you could have a tie breaker to determine if they are 3 or 4. And another one, depending on the result to determine who is 3, 5 and 6 or 4, 5 and 6.
The funny thing is, in either scenario, the result is exactly the same.
With Utah in or out of the tiebreaker, it still plays Utah, Phoenix, Houston and San Antonio, in that order.
In fact,
there could be an overall tiebreaker including the fact that Utah couldn't drop further than the 4th seed.
Let's have New Orleans lose their last 2 games and make it a 5 way tie! Figure that one out!
my god, the Spurs must avoid the Suns
If the Suns lose to the Blazers, and the Spurs lose to the Jazz, then the Spurs play the Rockets in the first round... Is that right?
it all. I want Phx in the 1st round. I want to make them eat and die. Can Shaq have more than 2 dominant games in a 7-game series? I doubt it.
I want the drama. I feed on it. And if we can't beat Phx, then we should just stfu and go home. In that scenario I personally would switch to being a temporary Suns fan and watch them smash up the Fakers. I'd probably go buy a copy of Kazaam.
hahah. but now if they want to get the 3rd seed by winning the Utah game, they will face Suns again, though with HCA. It'd be revenge time for my Suns.
Utah sure is a team you don't want to deal with if they have HCA. Glad we won that Sacto game.
That means an automatic 1st round win, since the Rocekts can't get past that 1st round
IIRC the Cavs owned us by virtue of the Regular Season spankings they handed out.
You see how well that worked for them in the Finals, don't ya?
Son, you're becoming an embarrassment to Spurs fans everywhere. Find your pacifier an shut up. 1) No one has a time machine so you can quit whining about Scola. 2) In this situation there is only one appropriate response. PLAY BALL and WIN!!! You know, what the Spurs have been doing for the last DECADE! If we lose, then we lose with it all hanging out on the court, not with Butthurt crying about how scared we are of a team with a) NO CHAMPIONSHIPS, and b) that we have OWNED in the playoffs...
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